One of the best features of this audiobook is the interesting readers! I did not know who Mary Norris was, but I loved her reading style. (Ch 6, The Street). It turns out she’s a proofreader at the New Yorker (or is the title editor?) with a vlog of her own, The Comma Queen. Great little videos on the details of grammar.
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I think half the fun of this is listening to a chapter and then googling the reader.
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Do you have a favorite yet? I mean, beside Tilda the Great, obviously 
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Tilda was a great kick off! Particularly because I’ve never thought of Moby Dick as a particularly female book. I loved the guy from Chapter 3. Caleb someone? He was simply charming. I’ve just finished chapter 5 so I’m sure my favorites will be changing as I go along.
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I listened to Chapter 2 last night and did not think that guy was good. Felt like he was reading it for the first time without having reflected on the possible nuances …
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I hadn’t thought of googling the readers but now I will.
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Just googled him…he’s a lecturer of nautical studies! At Plymouth University. Aha! All is clear now. He is literally a captain. Also, a member of the Plymouth University Maritime Cyber-Crime Research Group. Fascinating.
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I agree with you Chapter 3/Spouter Inn/Nigel Williams. I think he is the screenwriter who adapted Moby Dick to television. Stunningly good reading.
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I’ve finally gotten started and listened to 2 and a half today waiting in line for a film. I’m particularly excited about the different narrators now that I’m started, in general, but also specifically because I was so astonished to hear Tilda pronounce all of “forecastle”. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t hear it just “fo’c’sle”. It’ll make me pay more attention to the ship than I might have reading the text.
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I noticed that too! Is that a Great Britain thing, I wonder?
fo’c’sle! I’ve listened to so many Patrick O’Brian Aubrey/Maturin audiobooks that I noticed it too! Tilda is a landlubber–though a great reader, for sure.
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I thought the same thing until I read about him. He’s an interesting guy but, yes, a pretty stiff reader.
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Okay, let’s talk about sexual tension in Chapter 10! (Stephen Fry, Bosom Friend). When I read it the first time, I sort of waved it off, but I don’t know…it’s almost a meet-cute from a romantic comedy. Victorians wrote about friendship so passionately that it’s hard not to guess at latent feelings.
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Today was my first real listen, and the feed just scrolled on to the next reader, so I didn’t stop to look up the narrators until taking a break after 9. I was so impressed with The Sermon that I googled Simon Callow, and of course he’s completely familiar as an actor, but I’m terrible at remembering names. “Oh HIM!” No wonder it was so good.
I wish there were more quality control in the recording. Clearly not all mics are created equal. Plus, some are studio silent while others have distracting traffic noise, or sound like they’ve been recorded in the bathtub. I did like the sound effects of sea and storm, though.
Next, Stephen Fry!
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I’ve just listened to Chapter 36, and it is thrilling. The narrator, John Cleave, has a voice that would win “Talk Like a Pirate” day.
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